Saturday, May 23, 2009

Hey everyone! I have had exams ( the year end stuff) all week! And you know what that means… NO COMPUTER. All I heard was study this study that, I hope all that had work pays off!

So lets see…

Well, today is definitely the most boring day of the week! It is rainy and gross, and no going outside. I had my last school dance last night, and I was really tired this morning. I was crossing my fingers that I wouldn’t have swim practice today, and I guess I crossed them a little too much (heehee). I think we will be stuck inside all day!!!!!

On Thursday I had a Yolo Board race! It was so so, so much fun. I got a little drunk!! on vitamin water of course!!!My mom said that I was asking CRAZY, and I was talking non-stop! She may be right since I had 2 of the big bottles, and 1 cute little baby bottle! I love vitamin water so much! I think the orange-orange one and the strawberry kiwi ones are the best! If you haven’t tried them before, GO FOR IT!!

Back to the race, when we got there it looked liked it was about to rain, but it held off until I started my leg in the relay J. So I warmed up, and I was doing fine, but had a little bit of trouble turning. I was there because Big Chloe is out of town.Miss you, but thanks!!!Our relay team consisted of Lisa Purell, an amazing adventure racer, triathlete, runner, and person! Kelly, who I have heard is an amazing trainer (mommy wants me to learn how to run better with her). And last but not least Tracy, who is an awesome Yolo boarder, and has the 2 cutest kids ever!! While Mrs. Lisa was coming in from her amazing part in the race, the youngest girl who is five said “go Lisa, the games are over, it is time to race”. I thought that was really funny coming from a five year old! So after Mrs. Lisa came back, Mrs. Kelly was off, she was really, really fast! Up next – me. I helped catch us up to fourth place WOOT WOOT! At the turn, I did a sharp turn, and that is where I caught up. Then it started raining, and that was cool! Mrs. Tracy went after me, and we got FITH over all! Pretty darn good huh! I also want to congratulate my friend Alex for doing awesome in the race! Ok that’s all for now!

I have to work on my History project (it is on Guam, and if you know anything about it please help! J ) and study for math!!

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Hi guys! I survived the 3-mile bridge swim. It was in Pensacola, and it was awesome! I woke up at 3 in the morning, which was WAY WAY too early, but I suffered through it. My dad drove me there, and we had to take a pit stop to… Whataburger. My dad got an unsweet tea and some fries, but I held my self back so I wouldn’t puke in the water.

When we got to Pensacola we found the bridge ok, but since there are 2 sides of the bridge we didn’t know what side the start was on so we went to the nearest side, and no one was there except this guy sleeping in his car (I was really jealous!!). We decided that it was the wrong side so we crossed the road to the other side of the near side of the bridge (if that makes any sense at all). We saw other people in bathing suits, and we asked them which side of the bridge that start was, and they said the other side. So we got back into the car and drove to the other side of the bridge. Then we got the kayak off the top of the car. After we did that we went to the check in thing, and we got my packet and shirt. Then we went to body marking and the guy said right thigh, and because it was 4:30 in the morning I turned around and gave him my left ankleJ. Embarrassing huh!?!

So on to the race. I got into the line with some of my swim team friends, and we were at the end of it, and then we saw Coach Karen at the front of the line so we went to “talk” to her. As they were checking our numbers we were told by a lifeguard that there were rocks and to be careful, and me being the klutz of the group got cut on the bottom of my foot. It doesn’t look bad, but boy does it feel awful! Anyway, we got into the water and we were floating around then out of the blue I here “take your mark… BEEEP”. So we are off. I felt good at the beginning and then at about the mile mark I just got bored! I turned around to see if there was a green and yellow kayak (my dad was in that one) and there was! So I started talking to my dad a little bit, but he just wanted me to swim, so finally I found someone to pace myself off of. I made to 2.8 and couldn’t see the finish, and I was mad! I kept asking my dad where the finish line was, and I don’t think he knew because all he said was follow the person in front of you. And that was that. I finally saw the finish, and I swam fast and kicked hard, and my time was….1 hour and 45 minutes for a 3 mile swim! WOOT WOOT! I think that is pretty good, but I have never done that swim before, so we shall see what I do next year!

Well I am going to go yolo boarding in a lake today, and then after that I am going to go shopping with a friend, which will be very fun, and I can’t wait, but the master of the house (mommy) said that I have to clean my room…YUCK! Ok, so that’s it for now… oh wait here are some pictures!

Friday, May 15, 2009

Hi everyone! Most of you know that I have recently started doing triathlons. And since I got my parents to do triathlons, they have also just started. But, the coolest thing about this is that my Dad has changed from an old fat dude who loved to eat A LOT to a lean, mean triathlon machine, AKA, the biggest loser (HAHA I just called my daddy a loser)! This is what happens when you do triathlons:

BEFORE

AFTER

Anyway, I have a three mile swim tomorrow, so be sure to check back soon for my race report.

First of all, as most of you know The Gulf Coast Triathlon in Panama City was this weekend. My Dad did the WHOLE thing by himself! He did awesome on the swim! He beat his New Orleans swim time, and his bike time! On his run he didn’t do as well, but it was like 90 degrees outside! We were even hot just watching, but had fun volunteering at the swim and in transition. Daddy had a tough run because his legs started to cramp, and he just… fell over when he tried to take a rock out of his shoe! (He never got the rock out.) When he was finishing his face was really really white, so my mom was kinda worried, and he got an IV, and was a hundred times better.

A bunch of friends also did the race and they all did awesome. Congrats to you all!!

Also this weekend my brother and I did a race! I did a 200 yard swim a 6 mile bike, and a 1-mile run. My brother did half that distance. Think I did pretty well on the swim, I felt awesome on the bike, and I definitely need to work on my run, but I still did awesome! I know you are wondering what place I got…. I got FIRST in the 13-14 girls! My friend Kristin came in third over all for the 13-14 girls, and it was only her first one. I am super proud of her. My brother came in 2nd in the 9-10 boys division.

Besides the main things that happened this weekend, there were also some other exciting things!

First, when we were waiting for my dad to finish the swim, we were cheering everybody on. We met this man standing next to us, Mr. Priest, and we started chatting. He was saying that he was waiting for his wife, and she has one AMAZING story!!! First of all she used to be 321 pounds…321!! Now, she is only 150 something. My mom asked Mr. Priest how she got so heavy, and then how she got so skinny. He said that she just sat on the couch and ate chips and cookies and too much food, and that he’s a really good cook. Then he said that one day she just decided to start biking, so he bought her a Wal-mart bike… and now she’s a healthy weight and averages 23 miles per hour on a new bike!!!! That story is just so inspirational to me!! Then as I was leaving the race, I saw some of my friends and I was cheering them on, and Mr. Priest came up to me and said that his wife had beaten 6 of the pros!!!!!!! I am so so so impressed!! If you are interested her name is Deborah Priest from Atlanta, Georgia, and this summer she is doing a bike across the country in 10 days.I think biking across the country sounds awesome, but I think I would like to take my time.Mr. Priest also had a bunch of fun triathlon quotes, but the one I like the best was “when a person puts on a wet suit they turn into superman”. I really liked that one. He also said that everyone has a story why they are doing triathlons, from losing weight, to to trying to become pro.

OK so that’s it for now. I have to go study for math, and/or watch TV! Happy Mothers Day!!

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Hi! Sorry I haven’t written in a long…long time! School, sports, and I have come down with a bad case of…no, not swine flu…a common cold. (Cough cough sniff sniff). It is downright awful! I am so tired, and I am blowing constantly, yuck! At least when you read this you can’t hear my voice, well almost no one can hear my voice, but you know what I mean!

Last weekend I had my first long course swim meet of the season. Thanks goodness I wasn’t sick then! One time I was sick during a swim meet, like my face was green and everything, but surprisingly I got all best times! Weird, huh?! Anyway, I am not the fastest swimmer, I might have an amazing time sometimes, but I found out at this meet that my brother is REALLY fast! He had nine swims, and in all of them he got nine SES (Southeastern sections) cuts! SES is a big swim meet, where people from all over the south try to make a special time to compete against other fast people! It is kind of like a smaller version of the Olympics, with finals and all! I personally have never gotten an SES cut, so I’ll stick with my open water swims.

I have a triathlon coming up this weekend! I am very excited, and I hope I feel better so I can compete! Last year I won first in the 11-12 division, and I was actually competing against people! This year I will be in the 13-14 group, but last year I came in 2nd for the girls overall so we will have to see how that goes! The distances are really really super short, the swim is a 200 yards swim, snaking the pool, then you do a 6-mile bike twice, and then a surprisingly short run of only a mile!!I like doing this distance and competing with people my age, but I also like the longer ones and competing with adults.I surehope I feel better!!!

My dad is doing the Gulf Coast 1/2 Ironman that same weekend, and I hope he does well! I signed up to do the swim, but they told me I was too young.That stinks, don’t you think?But I do understand (last year we saw a man die, so I really, really understand – but still!)So, I’m looking forward to volunteering with my swim team. The nicest thing about this race is that we don’t have to travel anywhere, we just have to drive about 20 minutes!